90 THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



broad black band, tips of feathers white; across the fore- 

 head, a black and white band, and a dusky stripe from 

 the bill to the eye; below, white, with two black bands 

 across the breast; legs and feet, a pale light clay color; 

 exterior toe joined by a membrane to the middle one as 

 far as the first joint. 



The nest is merely a depression in the ground, some- 

 times lined with grass. The birds breed from April until 

 June. The eggs, four in number, are very much pointed 

 at one end, one and a half by one and one-eighth inches 

 in size, of either a cream or brownish drab and covered 

 thickly with spots of a blackish brown. 



They breed throughout temperate North America, ar- 

 riving in New Jersey about March 20 from the south- 

 ern United States and leaving the latter part of October, 

 although a few winter in the lower part of the state. 



Their cry is kill-dee^ kill-dee, repeating the latter syl- 

 lable a number of times rapidly when flushed. 



Their food consists of worms, insects, larvae, small 

 Crustacea and they are frequently seen running over re- 

 cently ploughed ground looking for insects. 



Kingbird^ Tyirant Flycatcher^ or Bee wllftrtin, 

 — Length, eight inches; extent, fourteen inches; above, 

 dark slate, blackish on the head; wings and tail, black, 

 the former edged and the latter tipped with white; body 

 below, pure white, tinged across the breast with gray; the 

 plumage on the crown, although not forming a crest, is 

 frequently erected, and discovers a rich bed of brilliant 

 orange or flame color; when the feathers lie close this is 

 altogether concealed; the bill is half an inch in length, 

 very broad at the base, of a glossy black color and furnish- 

 ed with bristles at the base; the legs and feet are black, 

 seamed with gray. The female differs in being more 

 brownish on the upper parts, has a smaller streak of paler 

 orange on the crown and a narrower border of duller 

 white on the tail. The young birds do not receive the 

 orange on the head during the first season. 



